THE iDOLM@STER 2 (アイドルマスター２,AIDORUMASUTAA TSUU?) is the second game under THE iDOLM@STER 2nd Vision label. It was released for the Xbox 360 on February 24th, 2011, and re-released for the Playstation 3 on October 27, 2011 with extra content. Both games were rereleased on August 2, 2012, for both systems as part of a Best Seller's line.

Contents

Gameplay

Gameplay mostly remains unchanged from the previous game, only now that the player is forced to choose amongst 9 idols and make a trio group.

Lessons have been reworked slightly with the exclusion of two mini-games. Auditions have also been reworked from their original concept.

The player can invite two additional idols for a quintet performance for certain songs, resulting in 5 idols on stage.

Also included in the game is the "Stage For You!" mode, which resembles SP's "Office Mode", to create a stage without producing an idol unit, utilizing 1, 2, 3, or 5 idols on the stage. All 13 765Pro idols are available to use in S4U mode. Though limited in terms of customization and songs, Jupiter and the other DLC idols can also be used in S4U! as guests, but only in the PS3 version.

Story

The game takes place about half a year to a year after the idols first debuted. 765 Pro is facing a lack of recent success in Story Mode. One of the only recent hits is Ryuuguu Komachi, a unit comprised of Azusa Miura, Ami Futami, led by Iori Minase, and produced by former idol Ritsuko Akizuki. The 9 selectable girls have made solo debuts already but haven't become anywhere as popular as Ritsuko's group. Because of Ryuuguu Komachi's success and the recent lack of public interest in solo idols, Junjirou Takagi entrusts the Producer with creating a idol unit, with the goal to make 765 Pro successful.

Faced with living up to Ryuuguu Komachi's success and attempting to deal with the mysterious new threat of Jupiter, the Producer must manage each girl's tension, produce songs, and aim for the Idol Academy title.

Characters

Songs

The game features both new and old songs, but severely lacks older songs in favor of former DLC and MASTER ARTISTimage songs.

Xbox Default Songs

Default Songs Added in PS3 Version

Xbox Only DLC

DLC Available for Both Consoles

PS3 Only DLC

Special Idol Songs

Release

The game was first released for the Xbox 360 on February 24th, 2011, with a limited first print edition called the Sparkle Pack. The Sparkle Pack edition contained a 4 part photo set, a 765 Pro Employee ID with an unique employee number and Serial ID, a download card for the DLC song Little Match Girl, and 2 Weiss Schwarz promo cards.

The game was re-released for the Playstation 3 on October 27, 2011 with extra content on the disk, including the first 3 catalogs of downloadable content. The PS3 version of the limited first print edition included the limited edition of the first volume of THE iDOLM@STER anime on Blu-Ray disc (which also includes the PERFECT IDOL 01 CD), Gravure For You! Vol. 1, a mini-gravure model magazine featuring Iori and Haruka, a 5 photo image set of Iori, as well as the official soundtrack CD with the BGMs from the game. This all came packed in a special box which seems to be for future volumes of the anime, as the box is simply labeled "THE iDOLM@STER", referencing itself to the anime, not the iM@S2 game.

Although the settings and characters strongly resemble the ones used in the older games, iM@S2 is in fact a standalone in the series. One could call it a parallel universe where Producer never joined 765 Pro. 961 Pro's Project Fairy didn't exist either. However, the characters Miki Hoshii, Takane Shijou and Hibiki Ganaha exist and are part of 765 Production, suggesting that the events of the SP games likely never happened.

Nearly all of the 765 characters underwent design updates in this game. Most notable to these changes are Mami Futami, Azusa Miura, Iori Minase, Ritsuko Akizuki and Makoto Kikuchi. Many girls' profile sizes changed, some rather dramatically, such as Ami and Mami's height. The 876 idols also received their first HD appearance within this game.

While the address for the 765 office stayed the same, the building itself gained a floor in height and was changed to be brown in color. The stairs on the side of the building are no longer rounded and the roof is now flat. The building no longer has a series of signs attached to the stairs, and does not have an adjacent building attached to the right. The tape on the office windows is now yellow and the office space itself is now much more defined. There are more rooms, bulletin boards, computers and chairs within the office.

While only shown in the Gravure for You! segments for 876 Production, the 876 office actually had a minor update. The poster in the background depicting Sophie of the Tales series was removed upon porting to the PS3.

Costumes are now classified as Floral, Luxury, and Starry, replacing the previous CUTE&GIRLY, COOL&SEXY, and COSMIC&FUNNY categories respectively. The standard versions of the costumes are called Vital Sunflower (Floral), Pink Diamond 765 (Luxury), and Charming Venus (Starry).

Differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 release

READY!! and Nanairo Button were added to the PS3 release, along with the Princess Melody costume and the The ☆ Wild Strawberry Floral recolor (which replaced the Snow Strawberry NEO recolor to better match the anime).

A "hard" difficulty mode was included in the PS3 release. This mode also changes the costumes and songs the rivals perform.

In S4U mode, there is a new addition- guest performances. Using this, the player can set up and view a Jupiter performance, though their costume and song choices are very limited. Ai Hidaka, Eri Mizutani, Ryo Akizuki, and Miku Hatsune are also available in this mode as DLC; if the player purchases them, they will appear as Festival rivals and in song rankings, though they don't appear in the story mode. S4U mode also supports DLC stages.

The first three 360 DLC catalogs' songs and costumes were included as unlockable, non-DLC content in the PS3 game.

By the time the PS3 version was released, the 360 version already had released 10 DLC catalogs. Because of this, the 360 version's DLC concluded with the release of Watashi-tachi wa Zutto... Deshou? and the 14th catalog, so there are some songs and costumes that are DLC for only the PS3 version. However, the DLC costume Punkish Gothic is only available as DLC for the 360 version for unknown reasons.

The PS3 version includes a "special episode", unlockable after beating the main story, where the Producer takes on the role of Ritsuko's assistant as she produces Ryuuguu Komachi and tries to beat Jupiter. Though they can't produce them, the player can choose to see Azusa, Iori, Ami, or Ritsuko's story, whereas the 360 version had those girls appear only as rivals.